The live well in a boat is used to hold water for placing fish which are caught to keep the fish alive. When the water in the live well is changed, or at least partially changed, fairly often, fresh water is maintained in the live well, thus allowing the fish to stay alive for a much longer period of time. Devices disposed within, or at the end of, a conduit in communication with both the live well and the water outside the boat to permit water to drain from and to the live well have been in use for many years. Without such a device, the water in the live well would be siphoned from the live well while the boat is moving, thus causing the fish housed therein to die in a relatively short period of time. Prior devices have included plugs made of rubber or other suitable material which are inserted and removed from one end of the conduit and valves disposed within or outside the conduit. By removing the plug or actuating the valve, water is permitted to drain in and/or out of the live well. The use of a plug had the disadvantage that a person must place his hand and at least a portion of his arm into the water to insert or remove the plug. Prior art valves, capable of being remotely operated, include conventional heater valves having a steel valve body therein that would rust and become inoperative after a relative short period of time and allow water from the live well to discharge into the hull of the boat. Prior art valves, capable of being remotely operated, have also included valves having structure similar to that of the conventional heater valve, but containing a plastic ball, which valves were glued and screwed together. These type of prior art valves proved to be less than ideal in that such valves had a tendency to leak after a short period of time.
Boats normally have a conduit in the back wall of its hull to drain water that has gotten into the interior of the boat. Devices disposed within, or at the end of, the conduit in communication with the interior of the boat for permitting water to drain or be siphoned from the interior of the boat have been in use for many years. Without such a device, water would drain into the boat and perhaps fill the boat while the boat was not moving in the water. Prior art devices have also included plugs made of rubber or other suitable material which are inserted and removed from one end of the conduit and valves disposed within the conduit. By removing the plug or actuating the valve, water is permitted to drain out of the interior of the boat. The use of the plug had the disadvantage that a person must place his hand and at least a part of his arm into the water to remove or insert the plug when the boat was moored in water. Prior art valves used for bailing purposes, capable of being remotely operated, also included conventional heater and other types of valves having a steel valve ball therein which would rust and become inoperative after a relatively short period of time and allow water from outside the boat to enter into the interior of the boat.
The instant invention relates to a remotely operated valve for mounting on or adjacent the back wall (transom) of a boat hull, either outside or inside the boat, which overcomes the numerous disadvantages of the prior art plugs and valves used for both bailing purposes and for keeping fresh water in the live well of a boat.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved valve which is operable to establish comunication and block off communication between the interior and exterior of a boat.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved valve to permit water to flow into or out of the interior of a boat.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved valve which can be remotely operated to permit water to flow into or out of the interior of a boat to either prolong the lives of fish housed in a live well of the boat or to siphon or drain water from the interior of the boat.
Other aspects, objects, and the several advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from a study of the preferred embodiments as set forth in the disclosure, the drawings, and the appended claims.